Thoughtful musings on a Monday morning

I like to think that I have been a good parent/teacher – not one with a degree who has been educated to teach in a school setting but someone who has taught her and her husband’s daughters lessons in living. We taught them, at least we hope we did, to be respectful of others, to study and to work hard, to follow their dreams, to be grateful for their talents and skills and gifts that they have received, and to give back to society in whatever measure they are able. When I look at them now that they are mothers, wives, professionals, and caregivers, I get the feeling that our instruction has had a reasonably good effect on their lives.

Because he enjoyed analyzing and working with numbers, their father was the go-to parent whenever their homework involved mathematics; I was the person who proofread their English papers.

In the English department, their teachers (among them, Mrs. Phelps, Mrs. Fredericks, Mrs. Carey, and Sisters Thaddeus and Euphemia) and we worked on proper grammar usage, taught them to use a dictionary or Roget’s Thesaurus, and to spell well. All instruction, I add, was in the pre-Spell Check and Grammar era. From what I observe, the lessons have stood the test of time and technology.

That said, I hope that they remember the difference between the words “compliment” and “complement” because someone at the Morning Sun does not. Cases in point: “The building needs to be a multistory facility constructed to compliment its surrounding buildings . . . .” (Morning Sun). In the same story, “We feel there is some real potential for a quality development that would compliment downtown.”

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Are we to understand that the new facility will have the ability to talk – to say, for instance, “My dear Building, how well you have withstood the ravages of time! You haven’t changed a bit since last I saw you. Oh, I see that you have a few cracks in the walkway to the entrance and the doors could use some refinishing but I suppose those flaws come with age and are to be expected. After all, you’re going on 20, aren’t you? You seem, however, to have avoided building-osteoporosis because you appear as straight and tall as you were when your first tenants arrived. And your windows have retained their sparkle for all these years. I am so happy that we’ll be neighbors.”

Further down in the story we are told that the project developer

“. . . [feels] there is some real potential for a quality development that would compliment downtown.” He/she/they are generous with their praise. This time, the developer greets the downtown area with a building-hug while whispering, “I just know that we’ll be good friends.”

I think that the author of the story, or maybe the project manager, meant that the new facility should “complement” the existing buildings in the current environment, that is. “fit in” with the look and functions of the existing buildings.

To clarify the difference between the words “compliment” and “complement,” I consulted an older dictionary and a newer one. They define “compliment” as “a courteous expression of commendation, approbation, civility, or admiration,” and “something said in admiration, praise, or flattery.” “Complement,” on the other hand, denotes “that which completes or brings to perfection,” “that which fills up or completes.”

If the pending project complements the surrounding buildings and the downtown area, we will compliment the developers on their efforts.

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On another subject: February 7 is “National Wear Red Day” – to raise awareness in the fight against heart disease in women. More women die of heart disease than women do from all cancer-related deaths combined.